Nestable cups



S. FOTOS NESTABLE CUPS Feb. 25, 1964 Filed March 13. 1961 INVENTOR.

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6,74 4; wry/g EJ/n er ATfQ/Y YS United States Patent 3,122,295 NESTABLECUE? Stephen Fo tes, Fort Lee, NJ nssignor to Multi Molds International,Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 13, 1951, Ser.No. 95,354 Claims. (it'll. 229-) This invention relates to nestable cupsand more pmticularly to plastic cups of this type which are adapted tobe filled with ice cream, sherbet or ice and which are preferablycapable of being arranged in telescoping nesting interengagement for usewith automatic machinery for filling the cups.

In the manufacture of ice cream, sherbet or ice cups it is commonpractice to fill these ups with automatic machinery. These cups aregenerally made of paper which is coated with wax, or otherwise suitablyimpregnated. In order to facilitate the use of these cups with automaticfilling machinery, they are generally nested in such a manner that astack or series of cups are telescopically received within one another.

In the past, it has been generafl'y accepted that nestable cups must bemade of paper or other flexible material in order to permit propernesting of the cups. The nesting is generally accomplished by contactbetween the walls of the cups, the bottom of the cups having a smallerdiameter than the top such that the angularity of the walls preventscomplete telescoping of the cups one within the other. The angularity ofthe walls usually required for nesting, however, permits the Walls towedge so ti htly together as to make difilcult the separation of thecups in the nested stack because of the friction developed between thewall surfaces in nested contact. Although paper cups have a certaindegree of flex bility, the friction of the contact wall areasnevertheless often results either in improper nesting or interlocking ofadjacent walls which prevents rapid separation of the cups. This isparticularly true if any pressure is applied to the nested cups.

Since the area of engagement in nested paper cups is relatively large,due to the height or" the side wall, it has been found that it is oftendiilicult to separate the cups without bending, creasing or otherwisedamaging the walls of the paper cups. The use of plastic cups wherenesting is required has heretofore been thought impractical as plasticoffers relatively small flexibility and results in difliculty ofseparation.

In View of the foregoing, it is the primary object of the presentinvention to provide plastic cups which may be nested or telescoped onewithin the other and which may be subsequently withdrawn or separatedfrom such nested position without any difliculty and without any damageto the cups.

Another object of the present invention is to provide plastic cups whichare capable of being nested, one within the other, but when arranged insuch nested relation are prevented from completely telescoping withinthe adjacent cup, thereby facilitating rapid removal or disengagement.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a plastic cupwhich simulates the form of Various fruits such as oranges, lemons,raspberries, etc., and which may be arranged in nested or telescopingarrangement without binding and which may be rapidly and easily disengaged or separated, one from the other.

These and further objects and features of the present invention willappear from the following detailed description of the invention to beread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which likecomponents in th several views are identified by the same referencenumeral.

3,l22,2% Patented Feb. 25, 1%64 "ice In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the plastic cups of the presentinvention, the cups being shown in nested or telescoping position.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, but illustrating only one cupsimulating a different type of fruit.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-section taken on the line 44 of FlGURE 3 and,

FIGURE 5 is a top view of the cup illustrated in FIG- URES' 3 and 4.

Briefly stated, the nestable cups of the present invention are made ofplastic and may be formed by any conventional molding techniques, suchas injection or vacuum forming. The base of the cup is formed in such amanner as to simulate the fruit or other commodity corresponding to theflavor of the edible product being packaged in the cup. The base of thecup therefore may be formed in such a shape as to simulate oranges,raspberries, lirnes, bananas, etc. The base of the cup may take anydesired configuration, but in the preferred form of the invention, thebase of the cup has a slightly smaller diameter than the top in order toimpart a slight taper to the walls of the cup. The reason for thetapered walls is to facilitate the receipt or" one cup within the otherin nesting or telescoping fashion. The upper portion of the cup isformed with an outwardly flared portion to form a shoulder. The wall ofthe cup is continued upwardly from the shoulder and terminates in a lipportion. The portion of the wall between the shoulder and the lip ispitched inwardly at a slight angle such that the diameter of the lip issmaller than the diameter of the shoulder. This permits partialtelescoping of one cup within the other but prevents binding of the Wallportions of adjacent cups and permits rapid and simple disengagement orremoval of the cups from their nested position.

Referring now to the drawings, the cup of the present invention isindicated generally by the numeral ill. The cup 19 is formed of thinwalled plastic and is formed by vacuum or injection molding, or by anyother known molding techniques. In the preferred form of the presentinvention, the cups i are shaped in such manner as to simulate fruits,vegetables, or other edible products. The cup 18 illustrated in FIGURE1, simulates the appearance of a lemon or a lime, while the cup "illillustrated in FIGURE 3 simulates the appearance of a raspberry. If thecup 10 is filled with ice cream, sherbet or ice, the flavor of theedible product received within the cup can coincide with the appearanceof the cup 16.

As illustrated in the figures, the cup 10 includes a base ll, side wallsl2 and an open top 13. In the formation of the cup ill the upper orouter portions of the side wall 12. are flared outwardly to form anannular shoulder 14 for a purpose to be presently described. Projectingupwardly from the extremities of the annular shoulder 14 is a taperedannular collar E5. The upper or outer portions of the collar 15 areflared outwardly to form a peripheral rim or lip 15 which defines theopen top of the cup ill.

in the preferred form of the invention, the base ll of the cup ll? is ofa slightly smaller diameter than the top 13. In this manner, asillustrated in the drawings, the side walls 12 are slightly tapered, thespacing between the side walls 12 gradually increasing from the base 11to the top 13. This taper facilitates rapid insertion of one cup withinthe other in nesting or telescop ng relationship. It is to beunderstood, however, that the cups 10 may be built with parallel sidewalls 12.

The annular shoulder 14 may be formed at any desired angle with regardto the side wall 12 and represent merely a slight protrusion in the sidewall 12. The purpose of the shoulder L2 is to function as a stop whenthe cups lt are inserted one within the other in nesting or telescopingfashion. The shoulder 14 seats upon the rim or lip 35 of the adjacentcup 1% and prevents further insertion of one cup witiin the immediatepreceding cup in the nested stack. In order to permit the annularshoulder 14 to function as a stop and to seat on the rim or lip 16 ofthe adjacent cup in the nested stack, the collar is tapered slightlyinwardly such that the upper or outer portion of the collar 35 has aslightly smaller diameter than the shoulder 14. This taper of theannular collar 15 is preferably small and in the order of 3 to 6degrees.

The up er and outer portions of the annular collar 15 are flaredoutwardly in order to form an annular rim or lip which functions as aseat to receive the shoulder 14. The rim or lip 16 also functions toprovide a gripping surface to facilitate disengagement of the cups fromtheir nested or telescoping position.

As illustrated in the figures, the rim or lip l is substantially in theform of an inverted U with the outer leg of the U being provided with alaterally extending flange 29. The purpose of the flange 28 is toreceive a closure lid (not illustrated).

In assembling the cups Ell into a nested or telescoping arrangement, onecup is merely inserted, one Within the other. As illustrated in FIGURESl and 2, as one cup is inserted within the other, the outer surface ofthe annular shoulder abuts against or seats upon the annular rirn or lipof the cup ll) immediately under the cup being inserted Within thenested stacli. When the shoulder 4 seats or rests upon the rim or lip 16it prevents further telescoping of the inserted cup. The arrangement issuch that it prevents one cup from being wedged within another cup andprevents the base 13 of one cup from coming into contact with the base11 of the immediately preceding cup the stack series.

In order to prevent one cup from being jarmned into another cup, theshoulder 14 is preferably not at right angles with the annular sidewalls 12, but is tapered preferably between 25 and 65 therefrom topermit sliding contact when the shoulder 14 is seated or engaged withthe rim or lip 16.

With the arrangement of the present invention, an extremely large degreeor" pressure can be applied to the nested or telescoped cups withoutwedging the cups tightly within one another such that they become boundtogether. When applied pressure is released, the nested cups may stillbe quite simply and easily removed one from the other. This is importantsince it insures that even during shipping or packing, although undueexternal pressure may be applied to the nested or telescoped cups, theymay be received at their destination without being compressed one Withinthe other and insure rapid and simple disengagement of one cup from theother.

What has been described is a nestable cup made of plastic which ispreferably in the form of some edible fruit or vegetable. The nestablecups of the present invention may be arranged in telescopingarrangements without binding and with an exact spacing being maintainedbetween each nested cup. it is to be understood that although apreferred form of the invention has been described, changes andmodifications may be made thereto by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention as defined in theappended clam-is.

I claim:

1. A nestable cup adapted to be received in telescoping arrangementwithin a like cup and supported therein with the bottom thereof spaced afixed distance from the bottom of the adjacent cup, said cup comprisinga continuous side wall extending upwardly from an integral bottom Wall,said side well being provided at the extremity thereof removed from saidbottom wall with an outwardly proj cing peripheral shoulder at an anglebetween 25 to 65 to said side wall, a slightly inwardly tapered collarextending upwardly from the extremity of said shoulder, and said collarbeing provided at its upper end with a peripheral seat which flares outlaterally from said collar.

2. A nestable cup adapted to be received in telescoping arrangementwithin a like cup and supported therein with the bottom thereof spaced afixed distance from the bottom of the adjacent cup, said cup comprisinga slightly tapered side wall extending upwardly from an integral bottomwall at its small end to adjacent its open end where it is provided witha peripherally continuous outwardly extending shoulder at angle between25 to 65 to said side wall, an annular collar extending upwardly andinwardly from the extremity of said shoulder, said collar being providedat its upper end with a peripheral seat which flares out laterally fromsaid collar, and the outer diameter of said collar being greater thanthe inner dis eter said seat whereby when one of said cups is placedwithin another of said cups in telescoping arrangement the shoulder ofsaid first cup engages the seat of said second cup to thereby supportsaid first cup within said second cup.

3. A plastic molded nestable cup adapted to be received telescopingarrangement within alike cup and supported erein with the bottom thereofspaced at fixed distance -om the bottom of the adjacent cup, said cupcomprising a slightly tapered side wall extending upwardly from anintegral bottom wall at its small end to adjacent its open end where itis provided with a peripherally continuous outwardly extending shoulderat an angle between 25 to 65 said side wall, a sli htly inwardly taperedcollar extending upwardly from the extremity of said shoulder, and saidcollar being provided at its upper end with a peripheral seat whichflares out laterally from said collar.

4. A plastic molded nestable cup adapted to be received in telescopingarrangement within a like cup and sup ported therein with the bottomthereof spaced a fixed disron. the bottom of the adjacent cup, said cupcorna slightly tapered side wall extending upwardly from an integralbottom wall at its small end to adjacent its open end where it isprovided with a peripherally conuous outwardly extending shoulder at anangle between 25 to 65 to said side wall, said shoulder extendingsubstantially laterally from said side wall, a slightly inwardly taperedannular shoulder extending upwardly from the extremity of said shoulder,said collar being provided at its upper end with a periph ral seat whichflares out laterally from said collar, and the outer diameter of saidcollar being grec ter than the inner diameter of said seat whereby whenon of said cups is placed within another of said cups in telescopingarrangement the shoulder of said first engages the seat of said secondcup to thereby support sai first up within second cup.

5. A device in accordance with claim 4 wherein said seat issubstantially U-shaped and is provided with a laterally extending forreceiving a closure lid.

References (Jited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATQNTS Priceet al June 28, 1960 May 23, 1961 POKER Hi I ATENTS France July 15, 1959UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,122,296 February 25, 1964 Stephen Fotos It is hereby certified thaterror appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and thatthe said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4, lines 5, 36 and 48, for "to", first occurrence, eachoccurrence, read and same column 4, line 17, for

"to" read and Signed and sealed this 14th day of July 1964. 1

(SEAL) Attest:

ESTON G. JOHNSON EDWARD J. BRENNER Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents

1. A NESTABLE CUP ADAPTED TO BE RECEIVED IN TELESCOPING ARRANGEMENTWITHIN A LIKE CUP AND SUPPORTED THEREIN WITH THE BOTTOM THEREOF SPACED AFIXED DISTANCE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE ADJACENT CUP, SAID CUP COMPRISINGA CONTINUOUS SIDE WALL EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM AN INTEGRAL BOTTOM WALL,SAID SIDE WALL BEING PROVIDED AT THE EXTREMITY THEREOF REMOVED FROM SAIDBOTTOM WALL WITH AN OUTWARDLY PROJECTING PERIPHERAL SHOULDER AT AN ANGLEBETWEEN 25* TO 65* TO SAID SIDE WALL, A SLIGHTLY INWARDLY TAPERED COLLAREXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE EXTREMITY OF SAID SHOULDER, AND SAID COLLARBEING PROVIDED AT ITS UPPER END WITH A PERIPHERAL SEAT WHICH FLARES OUTLATERALLY FROM SAID COLLAR.